Major US corporations threaten to return labor to ‘law of the jungle’

return2ozma@lemmy.world to News@lemmy.world – 353 points –
Major US corporations threaten to return labor to ‘law of the jungle’
theguardian.com
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Labor can't win under these conditions. On the one hand Republicans are chipping away at worker rights and establishment Democrats cut off opportunities for us to fight back legally.

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/biden-calls-on-congress-to-block-potential-railroad-strike

The cognitive dissonance people seem to have about how much damage the Republicans are doing while defending Democrats who prevent us from fighting back when we can is crazy. This is a class war. If we're not willing to take any risks we lose.

I mean, taking risks sounds great and all, but what specific, actionable things could someone do -- even if they're risky -- to thwart collusion between an unelected supreme court and these massively powerful corporate actors to further curtail my civil rights?

Country wide general strike. Tank the stock market by withholding the engine of commerce. Demand to reforge our democracy and if needed eat the rich.

How realistic is that, though? If you were around for Occupy Wallstreet, the media quickly painted the movement as a bunch of kooks, crackpots, and criminals simply by focusing on the few nutty people in the crowd and it died not long after.

What we need is leverage against these two bloated, entrenched parties who don't need to do anything for us to win our vote because they'll get it anyway.

Shawn Fain is (or was) trying to get unions on board for an annual general strike in the coming years. I doubt it will succeed, but there is at least an idea!

For one thing people could have held demonstrations prior to the midterms demanding Democrat senators and Biden vow to not block the rail strike. A contract which expires this year by the way. If the rail workers attempt to strike Biden and Democrat senators will block it again.

Declaring the NLRB unconstitutional works both ways.

Corporations have stacked the deck when it comes to the current rules and regulations surrounding Unions. Disbanding the NLRB gives corporations even more power, but Unions will also be unchained. The government is going to have a lot less say in how strikes are executed and how unions are formed. States that outlaw or attempt to clamp down on labor are going to see much more unionized political activism than they see now.

I don't need a lecture about what's at stake. I'm perfectly aware what's at stake. It's moderates who either aren't aware or simply don't care.

Democrats claim to be the champions of freedom and free speech, etc etc - and totally nowhere close to a fascist - yet I've been banned from three communities now for pointing out the labor issues of dems and the whole "sidestepping congress to back genocide" thing.